On November 9, 2024, the Human Resource Management Association of T&T (HRMATT) elevated the first inductees to its Hall of Fame. This was a significant moment for HRMATT, and it might also turn out to be an inflection point in a national story—the story of the ‘employment relationship’ in this country.
I contend that the management of people in the workplace in T&T developed through three periods in the 20th century: the Industrial Relations, the Intermediate, and the Human Resource Management/Industrial Relations periods. The movement through these stages has been inseparable from political, economic and social circumstances.
Industrial Relations Period
The first period may be divided into two, 1900-1937, and 1937-1972. Between 1900 and 1937, workers struggled for basic rights, a struggle that was coterminous with the struggle against colonialism. The Trinidad Workingmen’s Association led the struggle, advocating the establishment of trade unions, the eight-hour workday, overtime pay, compensation for injuries, and self-government. Captain Cipriani and then Uriah Butler were the leaders.
In 1932, the Trade Union Ordinance was passed, legalising trade unions. But agitation continued, culminating in the riots of 1937. Butler was jailed for two years for inciting a riot.
The colonial government also responded by strengthening the ordinance which formally recognised trade unions and set in train the second half of the industrial relations period. By the 1960s, industrial relations were firmly entrenched in T&T. Shortly after independence, it was reinforced in the public sector by the various service acts and in the private sector by the Industrial Stabilisation Act (1965), the forerunner of the Industrial Relations Act (1972).
But what was the state of personnel management at this time? To answer this question, we must turn to the industrialised countries. In the first half of the 20th century, personnel management developed through the refinement of techniques related to compensation management, recruitment, performance appraisal, training and development, and manpower planning.
Intermediate Period
Three developments characterised the second or Intermediate period. In the 70s and 80s, a new paradigm replaced personnel management. This may be attributed to decades of organisational behaviour research and emerging challenges in international business posed by the successes of Japanese companies.
Advocates of the new paradigm argued that traditional personnel management was based on the premise that the employee is a cost. On the contrary, they argued an employee must be considered an asset. They also pointed out that the various subfunctions of personnel management tended to work in silos without strategic direction. Instead, they contended these subfunctions should mutually support each other under the umbrella of an overall people management strategy, firmly tied to the company’s competitive strategy. Finally, they proposed that the relationship between employees and management should be collaborative and not confrontational, as was the case with personnel management.
The term human resource management (HRM) was adopted to distinguish the new paradigm from the old.
Japanese management practices became a subject of serious inquiry by Western scholars and practising managers alike. I hypothesise that this led to a shift in management thinking in the West. Kotter’s famous conclusion at the time that Western companies were well managed but badly led is symbolic. It is in this environment that the new paradigm of Human Resource Management emerged.
Meanwhile, in T&T, two developments came together fortuitously. In the 60s, as the availability of secondary education expanded, tertiary education, including management education, opened to increasing numbers of students. This was accessed at home and abroad. In the 70s and 80s, the beneficiaries entered the workplace.
The second development was the oil boom of 1973-1983. During this period, both the public and private sectors expanded significantly. Conglomerates emerged in the private sector, several state enterprises were established and ministries grew as they took on more responsibilities.
These developments facilitated the emergence of a new ‘managerial class’. They nurtured the introduction and spread of modern management practices, including human resource management.
HR management/IR period
The third period began in the 80s and continues to today. At the turn of the century, Baptiste and Bailey (2003 The Status of Human Resource Management in Trinidad and Tobago. Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies 28 (1):1) found that many organisations in T&T practised strategic human resource management (SHRM), though there was room for improvement in the quality. Interestingly, and contrary to a popular assumption at the time, they also found that HRM and IR were practised side-by-side in many companies.
HRMATT was formed in this period, 1989, an initiative of members of the emerging managerial class. It is not surprising that one of its early conferences focused on putting HRM in the board room.
Starting in the 90s, there has been an exponential growth in the availability of tertiary education in T&T, resulting in increasing numbers of highly trained HRM professionals. Their presence is being felt in organisations throughout the country.
And so, we arrived at the HRMATT Legacy Awards. The ‘employment relationship’ in T&T has come a long way in the past 100 years and may be about to take another leap.
